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Syracuse has made some noticeable changes to its game day atmosphere this year, including the use of white smoke during the team entrance. Atmosphere during Saturday's game against No. 3 Clemson will leave an impression on the recruits in attendance.
(Mike Greenlar | Syracuse.com)

Syracuse, N.Y. — Aaron Roberts was supposed to take an official visit to Syracuse a few weeks ago but pushed it back at the request of recruiting director Eric White and the coaching staff.

A new date was agreed upon, one which had been circled on the calendar by everyone involved with the football program for months. In the end, the allure of inviting one of its top recruiting targets in the Class of 2014 to the marquee home game on the schedule was too great for Syracuse to pass up.

"I was going to take my official to the Wagner game," said Roberts, a three-star offensive lineman from De La Salle Institute in Chicago. "But (White) changed his mind, the coaches did. They wanted me to come to this game just because they knew it would be a better atmosphere, a bigger game, people doubting them."

Certainly, all eyes will gravitate to the field during Saturday's showdown with No. 3 Clemson, the preseason ACC favorite in the thick of the national championship picture with its Heisman hopeful quarterback Tajh Boyd and array of offensive playmakers.

But an equally meaningful game of sorts will be played off the field, as Syracuse will host a number of prospects -- some committed, other undecided -- on what is perhaps the most important recruiting weekend of the fall. Here, inside the Carrier Dome, where attendance is expected to be at its highest so far this season, presentation and atmosphere may actually outweigh the on-field result.

"Wherever I choose to go to school, I want to be a difference maker," Roberts said. "Them losing really wouldn't matter to me. I just want to get there and see how I would fit in at the school."

Roberts is a headliner among uncommitted prospects expected on campus this weekend. He said he will fly into Syracuse and stay in a hotel. His host is freshman tight end Kendall Moore, also a Chicago native.

Roberts said he does not have a time frame for making a decision on where he will attend school next year, but he said 'it could be over for me if I get there and I love it."

That's where White, recruiting assistant Cole Dial, committed prospects and other staffers within the program and athletic department can help. White and Dial declined interview requests for this article.

AJ Long, the quarterback prospect who refers to himself as the "glue" to the 2014 recruiting class, is making the 16-hour drive with his father from Tennessee to Syracuse immediately after his high school game ends Friday night.

He remembers how Syracuse grouped together its top targets and gave them a sneak peek at what's on the horizon when he visited for the spring game back in April.

And Long specifically mentioned two visitors this weekend that could get similar treatment.

"They put us in our group, showed us the best of the best, showed blueprints of the new indoor facility," Long said. "Aaron Roberts and Mike Johnson, I think that's what they're going to do. I know as well that they wanted to get them around the team before the game." Johnson is a three-star defensive back from Clearwater, Fla.

Maybe that means listening in on head coach Scott Shafer's pregame speech to his team before it takes the field against Clemson.

Maybe that means hanging out during the pregame meal.

Whatever the script calls for, it's all about putting on a good show.

Syracuse has glitzed up its game day presentation this year. White smoke billows out of tubes as the team runs out onto the field. New uniform concepts have been unveiled each of the last two games. A miniature train was constructed and a train whistle screams upon the team's entrance and following touchdowns.

"The biggest thing for a recruit is he just wants to see the environment," defensive backs coach Fred Reed said. "They want to see the environment and kind of see the enthusiasm of college football and the team and camaraderie and all that. That's really what they want to see. It's big for them and that's how they look at it."

How much will Saturday's outcome affect recruiting?

Depends who you ask.

Roberts wants to soak in the environment and get to know the players.

Long, if he were uncommitted, said he would be paying close attention to the committed recruits and the offensive and defensive systems Syracuse runs. Then, it's going home, turning on the computer, bringing up YouTube and envisioning the future players in the team's schemes.

But for Shafer, it's obvious.

"Play a big game in front of a big crowd, you win, it helps recruiting," he said.

"If you don't, it doesn't help as much, other than maybe telling a kid this is why we need you here."